Butter Cookies/Spritz Cookies

These cookies taste like my childhood. These are the consummate Christmas cooke at my house. My mom made them every year with her electric cookie press.

ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour*
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla, you may also use almond extract if preferred
Maraschino cherries, cut in half or sprinkles for topping

directions

1
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2
Cream together the butter and sugar. Blend in the remaining ingredients. Fill cookie press with 1/4 of the dough at a time; form desired shapes on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6-9 minutes, or until set but not brown.
3
Cookies can be topped with sprinkles or maraschino cherry halves before baking. Barb always did half the batch with sprinkles, and half with cherries. :)

Source: Allison Zimmer